Built-in battery container for illuminated bathroom scale



M. A. PROV! June 23, 1959 BUILT-IN BATTERY CONTAINER FOR ILLUMINA'IEDBATHROOM SCALE Filed Dec. 28. 1953 V as an NV 9w WWI m m- LN a 1| mm ash 0% o NM 1% Mike A.Pro1/6 United States Patent BUILT-IN BATTERYCONTAINER FOR ILLUMINATED BATHROOM SCALE Mike A. Provi, Rockford, Ill.,assignor to The Brearley Company, Rockford, 11]., a corporation ofIllinois Application December 28, 1953, Serial No. 400,566

6 Claims. (Cl. 174-58) This invention relates to bathroom scales and ismore particularly concerned with one having an electric light built into illuminate the dial and thus facilitate reading the indicated weight,the light being automatically turned on only when the platform isdepressed.

I am aware that it is old to provide bathroom scales with means forilluminating the dial. However, in the prior constructions, the lightwas usually located without sufiicient regard to the best possibleillumination of the dial and in some instances the light wasincorporated as though it had been added as an afterthought, because theassociated scale construction did not appear to have been planned aroundit at the outset and especially designed for it. For example, in suchscales, if the light bulb or the battery required replacement, neitherwas so arranged that the replacement could be taken care of withoutsubstantially dismantling the scale, and, as a result, in a largepercentage of cases the purchaser would not know how to attend to it andhad to be content with very little, if any, service out of the lightingmeans, assuming the light operated at all after he put the scaleinto'use. It is, therefore, the principal object of my invention toprovide a built-in battery container for a bathroom scale designed andconstructed to avoid the objections referred to.

More specifically stated, the scale of my invention in accordance withthe above object includes the following features:

(1) Both the light bulb and battery are easily accessible, each uponremoval of a single easily removable cover plate, so that a burned outor defective bulb can be easily replaced and a worn out or defectivebattery can likewise be easily removed and replaced.

(a) The battery housing, except for the small switch terminal bracketfastened to one end thereof in insulated rela- .tionship thereto, is ofone-piece sheet metal skeleton boxlike construction having four legs atthe four corners to straddle fromthe inside of the scale an openingprovided in the base, so that a battery may be inserted into the housingthrough this opening when a cover plate closing the opening is removed,the four legs of the housing being designed for interlocking engagementat their ends in notches provided in the base on opposite sides of theopening, and the cover plate being designed for quick and easy removaland replacement and interlocking engagement with the base at one end ofthe opening and to be fastened to the base by means of'a single screw atthe other end of the opening, while at same time serving by engagementat its opposite .ends with the four legs of the battery housing to keep'ice them in interlocked engagement with the base, so that there isnever any possibility of the battery housing getting loose and shiftingits position to the slightest extent and thereby interfering with properoperation of the light switch in response to movement of the wishbonelever.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through a bathroom scale embodying theimprovements of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on the broken line 2--2 of Fig. 4 showing thebattery substantially full size and the retaining housing therefor andremovable cover plate;

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of Fig. 2 with the cover plate removed so as toindicate the accessibility of the battery through the opening in thebase plate for easy removal and replacement of a battery;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the cover plate applied, and

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional details on the lines 55 and 6-6 of Fig. 4.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding partsthroughout the views.

Referring first mainly to Fig. 1, the reference numeral 15 designatesthe generally rectangular sheet metal base of the scale, and 16 thegenerally rectangular sheet metal platform supported on said base bymeans of a pair of wishbone levers 17 and 18. The latter are made inaccordance with the disclosure in my copending application, Serial No.733,582, filed March 10, 1947. The main wishbone lever 17 is generallytriangular shaped and fulcrumed at the base portion of the triangle on apair of brackets 19 extending upwardly from the rear portion of the base15, and this lever supports the rear portion of the platform 16 by meansof a pair of downwardly projecting brackets 20 that engage at theirlower ends in hangers 21 fulcrumed on the lever 17 in forwardly spacedrelation to the brackets 19. At the front end of the scale the lever 17is connected to the lower end of the weighing spring 22 that issuspended by means of a screw 23 in the upper end of an invertedU-shaped bracket 24 supported on the base 15, an adjusting nut 25 beingthreaded on the screw 23 and resting on top of the bracket 24 to providean adjustable support for the screw on the bracket and thus enableadjusting the scale back to zero in the well-known way. The other andsmaller lever 18 is wishbone or U-shaped and has its cross-portion 26supported on top of the main lever 17 by means of a downwardlyprojecting lug 27 which engages a hanger 28 supported on lever 17, thelever 18 having its arms supported on the front end of base 15 onbrackets 29 and serving to support thereon the front end portion of theplatform 16 by means of downwardly projecting brackets 30 that engage inhangers 31 supported on the arms of the lever 18 in rearwardly spacedrelation to the brackets 29.

The weight indicating dial 32 is connected with a pinion 33 by means ofa spindle 34 suitably formed integral with the pinion. A rack 34 mesheswith the pinion 33 and is pivotally connected at its forward end to thelower end of an arm 36 of a bell-crank lever 37 pivoted by means of across-pin 38 to a bracket 39 supported on the base 15. This bell-cranklever 37 has a finger 40 resting on an arch 41 carried on the front 3end portion of the lever 17 immediately behind the spring 22, so thatwhen the lever 17 is depressed by weight applied to the platform 16 thebell-crank lever 37 will swing in a clockwise direction as viewed inFig. 1 under the action of a light coiled tension spring 42 that isconnected to the rear end of the rack 35 and has its rear end attachedto a lug 43 extending upwardly from the base 15. The heavier the weightthe more the levers 17 and 18 are depressed against resistance of theweighing spring 22 and the farther the rack 35 is moved under action ofspring 42 to turn the dial 32 away from its zero position, all asclearly disclosed in my copending ap plication, Serial No. 330,824,filed January 12, 1953, now Patent No. 2,788,963. r vAs furtherdisclosed in the last mentioned copending application, the dial 32 hasgraduations annularly of the top thereof, and a slight opening isprovided in a circular upwardly embossed portion 46 of the platform 16over the front half portion of the dial so that a reading may be takenof the indicated Weight by a person standing on the platform. Amagnification lens 47 gives sufficient enlargement so that the figuresand graduation lines are easily seen from eye level above the platform,especially when the dial 32 is illuminated, as hereinafter described.The lens 47 has a rim portion 48 resting on top of the embossed portion46 of the platform and fits in a circular hole 49 provided therefor inan escutcheon plate 50 that is suitably secured to the platform 16, asby means of a lug 51 on the rear end of the plate and a screw 52 at thefront end of the plate. A slot 53 in the front end of the plate 50affords access therethrough to the rim portion of the nut 25 previouslymentioned in setting the scale back to zero. A double hairline member 54is set in slots 55 provided in the platform 16 on diametrically oppositesides of the sight opening and is held in place on the embossed portion46 of the platform by the rim portion '48 of the lens. The upperhairline portion of the member 54 is in closely spaced relation to thebottom of the lens, and the lower hairline portion of member 54 is inclosely spaced relation to the dial 32, and the two portions togetherdetermine the vertical plane of sight for accurate reading of theindicated weight, as described in said last mentioned copendingapplication.

A small electric light bulb 56 is mounted in a socket 57 disposed in anopening 58 provided in the platform 16 immediately behind the upwardlyembossed portion 46 on which the lens 47 is supported, the socket 57being disposed on the longitudinal center line of the platform, andhaving a downward and forward inclination in the opening 58 so as todirect the light on a line ed, as shown in Fig. 1, forwardly anddownwardly across the top of the dial 32 in the fore and aft verticalplane of the double hairline member 54, so that there will be no shadowscast by any portion of this hairline member and the light will beconcentrated on the dial for easier reading of the indicated weight. Thedial 32, it will be noticed, has a recessed central hub portion 59, andthe bulb 56 is disposed over this hub and projects to some extent intothe recess, especially when the platform 16 is depressed under weight.The arrangement, therefore, enables substantially the same close spacingof the platform 16 in relation to the dial 32 as where no light bulb wasprovided, without danger of any interference by reason of insufficientclearance. The socket 57 for the bulb is mounted on a small sheet metalbracket that is fastened to the platform 16 in such a way that one sideof the filament of the bulb 56 is grounded to the metal platform 16 andthrough its metalto-metal contacts with the base also to the base 15, towhich the shell of the battery 66 is also grounded, as will soon appear.A conductor wire 67, which is electrically connected with the other sideof the filament of the bulb 56 extends to and is connected with aninsulated terminal 68 provided on the battery retaining housing 69 thatis grounded to the base 15, so that a circuit will be completed throughbulb 56 from the battery 66 when a switch indicated generally by thereference numeral 70 is closed, this switch being automatically closedwhen a sulficient load is placed on the platform 16 to cause thesupporting levers 17 and 18 to be depressed.

The switch 70 includes a bracket 71 that is mounted on one end of theskeleton box-like housing 69 is insulated relationship thereto by meansof a rivet 72 that serves as a terminal and has contact with the centralpost or terminal of the battery 66, as clearly appears in Fig. 2. Ascrew 73 threaded in the hole in the bracket 71 has a coiled compressionspring 74 surrounding the shank thereof under the head of the screw andcompressed between the head and the bracket 71 to hold the screw undertension in adjusted position. The protruding end 75 of the screw,therefore, serves as an adjustably fixed contact which, when engaged bythe movable contact 76 provided in the form of an outwardly bent lug onone end of an elongated switch lever 77, engages contact 75 and causesthe light bulb 56 to be turned on. The lever 77 is fulcrumedintermediate its ends in the forked portion of a lug 78 projecting fromand forming a part of one end wall of the housing 69. This lever 77 hasan upwardly projecting hooked front end 79 extending through a slot 80provided in the front end portion of the lever 17 and engaging the topof said lever so that the lever 77 will swing downwardly with the lever17 partly under gravity and partly under the light pressure of a wirespring 81 that is suitably fixed at two points along its length to thebase 15 and has its free end portion engaging in a notch 82 provided inthe upper edge of the lever 77, as clearly appears in Fig. l. The screw73 is carefully adjusted at the factory when the scale is assembled toprovide a pre determined clearance between the end 75 of the screw andthe lug 76 so that a predetermined movement of lever 17 is required toclose the contacts 75 and 76 and complete a circuit through bulb 56. Inthat way there is no danger of the light being turned on accidentallyand cansing the battery 66 to be worn out prematurely, and yet at thesame time the operation is sufficiently positive to in-, sure turning onof the light each time the scale is used in weighing a person standingon the platform. Elongating the lever 77 to the extent shown andoperating its free end by connection with the lever 17 near its frontend and adding the light spring pressure at 81 makes the operation soeasy that there is no perceptible effect one way or the other on theaccuracy of weighing.

The light bulb 56 may be easily removed and replaced by removing only asingle screw 52 so that the escutcheon plate 50 can be removed and thebulb 56 made accessible for removal and replacement. In like manner, itis only necessary to remove a single screw 83 in order to permit removalof a cover plate 84 closing an opening 85 in the base 15, in order toexpose the battery 66 for removal and replacement, the battery 66 beingthen easily accw sible as indicated in Fig. 3 and free to be dropped outwhen the scale is turned over.

The cover plate 84, as will now be described, not only closes theopening 85 but serves to anchor the ends of the two pairs of legs 86 and87 on opposite ends of the housing 69 that are disposed in interlockingengagement in notches 86' and 87' provided in the opposite sides of theopening 86. The legs 86 and 87 are wider than the notches 86' and 87'but are notched out on one side, as indicated at 88 in Fig. 2, to permitentry into notches 86 and 87' laterally. In other words, the legs 86 and87, which have a certain amount of resilience and are normally spacedapart to the extent indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 5 and 6, arepressed together enough to pass through the opening 85 so that theirnotches 88 register with notches'86' and 87', whereupon they are allowedto spread again under their inherent spring tension to interlock thenotched ends lo! the legs 86 and 87 in the notches 86" and 87". "In thatway, even when the cover plate 84 is removed, there is no likelihood ofthe housing 69 being loose cnough to become disconnected accidentallyfrom the base 15. However, to insure positively that the notched ends ofthe legs 86 and 87 will remain interlocked with the base 15 in thenotches 86' and 87' regardless of how roughly the scale may be handled,I prefer to provide channeled edge portions 89 extending along oppositesides of the plate 84 from one end where a hook-shaped extension 90 isprovided, the channel-shaped edge portions 89 being arranged to receivethe extremity of legs 86 in the channels of the edge portions 89 at thesame time that the hook-shaped extension 90 is hooked onto the top ofthe base 15 at the same end of the opening 85, thereby securing the legs86 against displacement from notches 86. The other end portion of plate84 is narrower and, in fact, is no wider than the opening 85, asindicated at 91 in Fig. 4, so that the edge portions 91 serve byabutment with the inner sides of the legs 87 to hold these legs innotches 87' when the screw 83 has fastened the plate 84 to the base 15.Downwardly embossed feet 92 are provided on base 15 at the four cornersthereof to rest on the floor and these keep the base 15 in elevatedrelation to the floor enough to provide ample clearance for thoseportions of plate 84 that lie below the plane of the plate 15, as shownin Figs. 1 and 2. When the screw 83 is removed, plate 84 may be easilyremoved and the battery 66 can be dropped out by turning the scale overto its normal operative position, whereupon a new battery can then beinserted and the plate 84 replaced and fastened by screw 83.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In an electrically operated device utilizing a cylindrical storagebattery for the current source, the combination with a wall of saiddevice adapted to serve as a battery support, of a box-like housinghaving side walls and that is U-shaped in cross-section defining anopening between the ends of the legs of the U to receive the battery,the open side of said housing registering with an opening provided inthe wall of said device, the legs of the U defining the opposite sidewalls of said housing being normally farther apart at their ends thanthe width of said opening in the wall of said device and being sprungtoward one another to enter said opening, said side walls havingportions thereof formed for interlocking engagement with the wall ofsaid device alongside said opening, whereby said housing is heldinterlocked with said wall under spring tension inherent in the materialof said housing, and a cover plate removably secured to the wall of saiddevice to close said opening and retain a battery in said housing whileengaging between the side walls of said housing to prevent disconnectionthereof from the wall of said device.

2. In an electrically operated device utilizing a cylindrical storagebattery for the current source, the combination with a Wall of saiddevice adapted to serve as a battery support, of a rectangular box-likehousing that is open on one side to receive the battery said housingbeing U-shaped in cross-section at both ends to define a pair of legs ateach end spaced to receive the end portions of the battery therebetween,there being a rectangular opening provided in the wall of said device,the legs at the four corners of the housing tending normally to divergeto a greater width at their ends than the width of said opening andbeing formed for interlocking engagement in notches provided at the fourcorners of the opening, the legs being sprung toward each other to entersaid notches and being therefore held in place in said notches underspring tension inherent in the legs, and a rectangular cover plateremovably secured to the Wall of said device to close said opening andretain a battery in said housing while engaging the inner sides of theend "6 positions of said legs to retain the same in engagement in saidnotches.

3. In an electrically operated device utilizing a cylindrical storagebattery for the current source, the combination with a wall of saiddevice adapted to serve as a battery support, of a rectangular box-likehousing that is open on one side to receive the battery, the open sideof said housing registering with a rectangular opening provided in thewall of said device, said housing having legs at the four corners of thehousing the ends of which are formed for interlocking engagement innotches provided at the four corners of the opening, and a rectangularcover plate removably secured to the wall of said device to close saidopening and retain a battery in said housing, said plate havingchanneled edge portions in which the ends of legs interlockingly engagedin said notches are received to hold the same in assembled position.

4. In an electrically operated device utilizing a cylindrical storagebattery for the current source, the combination with a wall of saiddevice adapted to serve as a battery support, of a rectangular box-likehousing that is open on one side to receive the battery, the open sideof said housing registering with a rectangular opening provided in thewall of said device, said housing having legs at the four corners of thehousing the ends of which are formed for interlocking engagement innotches provided at the four corners of the opening, and a rectangularcover plate removably secured to the wall of said device to close saidopening and retain a battery in said housing, said plate havingchanneled edge portions at one end cooperating with the ends of two ofthe legs interlockingly engaged in two of the notches by engagement ofsaid ends in the channels to prevent disconnection thereof,

said plate having the other end thereof extending between the other pairof legs to prevent displacement thereof from the notches.

5. In a device utilizing a storage battery as a source of electricalcurrent supply, the combination with a wall of said device having anopening provided therein, of a boxlike housing having side walls, saidhousing being U-shaped in cross-section defining an opening between theends of the legs of the U to receive the battery, the open side of saidhousing registering with the aforesaid opening in said wall and the endportions of the legs of the U defining the opposite side walls of saidhousing projecting through the aforesaid opening and having portionsthereof formed for interlocking engagement with the wall of said devicealongside said opening, and a cover plate having channels to close saidopening and retain a battery in said housing, said cover plate havingedge portions in which channels are provided to receive the projectingends of the aforesaid legs to hold the same in assembled position withrespect to the wall of said device, said plate having on one end portiona shoulder to engage the inner side of the wall of said device adjacentthe opening therein, and means for fastening the other end of said plateremote from said shoulder to the outer side of said wall adjacent theopening therein.

6. In a device utilizing a storage battery for a source of electricalcurrent supply, the combination with a wall of said device having arectangular opening provided therein, of a rectangular housing that isopen on one side to receive the battery and register with the aforesaidopening in the wall of said device, said housing having legs at the fourcorners thereof, the end portions of which are formed for interlockingengagement in and projection through notches provided at the fourcorners of the aforesaid opening, and a rectangular cover plate to closesaid opening and retain a battery in said housing, said plate havingchanneled edge portions at one end receiving the projecting ends of twoof the legs to retain the same in the notches and having at the same enda projection engaging the inner side of said wall adjacent the openingtherein, said plate having the other end thereof extending betweenthe-other pair of legs to prevent displacement thereof from the notches,and having means 011 that end for detachably securing the same to'thewall of said device.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSRittenhouse Dec. 25, 1928 Benedict Nov. 13, 1917 Hodges Mar. 13, 1928Frank Oct. 29, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OFCORRECTIQN- Patent No. 2,892,010 June 23, 1959 Mike A. Provi It ishereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of theabove numbered patent requiring correction and that the said LettersPatent should read as corrected below.

Column 5, line 61, after "battery" insert a comma; column 6, line 1, for"positions" read portions Signed and sealed this 19th day of July 1960.

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL H- .AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Commissioner of Patents AttestingOfficer UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.2,892,010

June 23, 1959 Mike A. Provi It is hereby certified that error appears inthe printed specification tion and that the said Letters of the abovenumbered patent requiring correc Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 5, line 61, after "battery" insert a comma; column 6, line 1, for"positions" read portions Signed and sealed this 19th day of July 1960.

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL HrAXLlNE ROBERT C. WATSON Commissioner of Patents Attesting()ificer

